'Haseen Dillruba' is a departure from the sparkling 'Hasee Toh Phasee' (2014) for director Vinil Mathew. But the director was sold on writer Kanika Dhillon’s murder mystery, relishing the volatile characters and the twists they brought. Mathew says that lead actors Taapsee Pannu and Vikrant Massey, who play newlyweds in the film, have only elevated the material further with their uninhibited performances.

“Taapsee and Vikrant are stellar performers with different approaches. Vikrant has a theatre background, so he improvises a lot, enjoys rehearsals and attempts multiple takes where he keeps tweaking his performance till it hits the perfect note,” states the director.

The Netflix film marks his first collaboration with Pannu, who is at the top of her game after Thappad (2020). Mathew believes she is a rare combination of spontaneity and studied performance. “Taapsee is a qualified engineer, and perhaps that is why she has a methodical approach to her prep. She is sharp and perceptive, mapping her character’s trajectory early on. She then combines it with her spontaneity. Her first few takes are gems.”

The whodunit is centred on Pannu’s Rani, who begins a torrid affair with Neel Tripathi, essayed by Harshvardhan Rane. Things get out of hand when she becomes the prime suspect in her husband’s murder.